Conversation?
What about conversation inside? If it’s just you and a random person, do you say hello and make small talk or awkwardly play with your phone and ignore them until one of you gets off? If you’re getting into an elevator with a friend or group and there’s already a topic of conversation, there’s no need to stop talking. There’s nothing wrong with talking, but be aware that people will listen, no mater how distracted or uninterested they are. If you are rude, tell dirty jokes and smell bad, people will judge you. If you tell a joke that’s actually funny and clever, not just a stupid inside joke, other passengers will be faced with the awkward situation of weather or not to laugh. Nobody wants to be seen as snooping on others in the elevator, it’s not polite. But sometimes things are incredibly funny and you just can’t help but laugh. Sometimes it’s fine, and polite; it just depends a lot on the atmosphere you’re in.
What you talk about has a lot to do with what setting the elevator is in. It wouldn’t be appropriate to talk about who was passed out with who the previous night in the elevator of a corporate office building, but in a college dorm it happens casually. In a sketchy Vegas hotel slash casino elevator, you might not want to associate or even acknowledge the drunk next to you, but not talking to your neighbor in an apartment building elevator might be taken as rude. All easy decisions, but it’s funny now failure to act appropriately can lead to intense awkward situations.
